There are many animals on mainland Australia, Tasmania and on the nearby islands, including New Zealand, New Guinea, and Indonesia (to name but a few). Many animals are unique to this part of the world.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world; it is off the northeast coast of Australia. There are also many flightless birds, monotremes, and marsupial mammals in Australia and nearby islands. Some dinosaur fossils have also been found in Australia; these reptiles roamed Australia over 65 million years ago.

On these pages, Australia is regarded as an island and a continent (but not as a country; political affiliations are ignored).

The following is a sampling of these amazing creatures. Click on an animal to go to a printout:

Australian Animals WheelMake an Australian animals word wheel using this 2-page print-out; it consists of a base page together with a wheel that spins around. When you spin the wheel, eight Australian animals appear one at a time: duck-billed platypus, kangaroo, koala, kookaburra, sugar glider, wombat, blue-tongued skink, cassowary, cockatoo, echidna (spiny anteater), emu, and dingo. The student then writes down the word wheel Australian animals -- in alphabetical order.

In addition to printing the animals, you can copy a printout (click here for instructions) and paste it into a painting program (like Paint) and color the animal there. (Thanks to Grace P. from Thorngrove School for this great idea.)